JOSEPH  FRANCIS  DALY 
By  E.J.McGuire 


U.S •Oath. Hist. Society 
Hist. Records  &  Studies 
Vol.10.  May, 1917 


of  tf)C 

®mberSttp  of  i^ortf)  Carplma 


Collection  of  J?otrt)  Caroltntana 

Cnootoeb  bp 

3To{m  g>prunt  Jlttl 

of  the  Class  of  1889 


NECROLOGY  199 

Joseph  Francis  Daly 

Former  Supreme  Court  Justice  Joseph  Francis  Daly  who  had 
been  a  member  of  the  United  States  Catholic  Historical  Society 
for  more  than  thirty  years  died  at  his  country  home,  Roanoke, 
Yonkers,  New  York,  on  August  6,  1916.  His  house  was  named 
after  the  river  on  which  lies  Plymouth,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
was  born  on  December  3,  1840.  His  father  Denis  Daly 
was  a  sea  captain  and  had  courted  his  mother  Elizabeth  Duffey, 
daughter  of  Lieutenant  John  Duffey  of  the  English  army,  while 
she  with  her  widowed  mother  was  voyaging  in  his  ship  from 
Montego  Bay,  Jamaica,  West  Indies,  to  New  York.  The  young 
people  were  married  in  New  York  in  1834  shortly  after  the 
voyage  ended. 

Captain  Daly  engaged  in  the  lumbering  business  at  Plymouth, 
shortly  afterwards.  His  first  child,  Catherine,  died  when  she  was 
about  two  years  old.  His  son  Augustin  Daly,  the  famous 
theatrical  manager  and  playwright,  and  his  son  Joseph  were 
both  born  there.  When  Joseph  was  scarcely  a  year  old  his 
father  died  on  his  ship,  at  sea,  and  his  young  widow  with  her 
two  little  boys  having  adjusted  his  affairs  as  well  as  she  was 
able,  with  very  small  means  at  her  command  moved  to  Norfolk, 
Virginia.  In  1849  she  came  to  New  York  where  her  half  sister, 
Mrs.  Woodgate,  and  her  husband,  had  previously  arrived  from 
Jamaica.  They  settled  in  St.  Mary's  parish  and  lived  for  many 
years  at  447  Grand  Street.  The  parish  priest  at  Norfolk  gave 
Joseph  a  highly  complimentary  letter  when  he  went  away  in 
which  he  praised  particularly  his  knowledge  of  the  Catechism. 
Poverty  lingered  with  the  Dalys.  Both  the  boys  had  short 
school  days.  When  twelve  years  old  Joseph  went  to  work  as 
an  office  boy  for  a  wool  broker  in  Pine  Street.  The  site  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Down  Town  Association.  Mercantile  business 
did  not  appeal  to  the  boy.  A  few  months  later  he  told  his  com- 
rade, John  H.  V.  Arnold,  later  Surrogate  of  New  York  County, 
some  of  the  things  that  he  disliked,  whereupon  young  Arnold 
said  that  if  he  wanted  to  go  into  an  honest  business  he  could 
be  an  office  boy  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  law  office  where  there  was  a 
vacancy.  At  this  early  age  Joseph  began  his  career  with  Robert 
B.  Roosevelt  and  Silas  Weir  Roosevelt,  the  uncles  of  Theodore 


K 


200 


NECROLOGY 


Roosevelt.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  was  associated  with  them 
as  office  boy,  managing  clerk  and  successor  to  their  practice  in 
the  firm  of  Daly,  Henry  &  Olin.  He  was  elected  a  Justice  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1870  and  served  for  twenty- 
eight  years,  having  been  re-elected  in  1884.  He  became  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  in  1890.  In  1895  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  was  consolidated  with  the  Supreme  Court  by  virtue  of  the 
Constitution  of  1894  and  he  became  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  In  1898  he  was  defeated  for  re-election  and  immediately 
returned  to  the  Bar.  At  the  age  of  fifty-eight  when  most  men 
are  looking  forward  to  retirement  or  greater  leisure  he  took  up 
an  active  practice  which  he  continued  for  eighteen  years  without 
intermission  and  in  which  he  won  for  himself  great  distinction 
and  increased  honors. 

He  married  in  1873  Emma  Robinson  Barker,  the  step- 
daughter of  Judge  Hamilton  W.  Robinson  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas.  Three  children  were  born  of  his  marriage,  Elizabeth 
T.  Daly,  Edward  Hamilton  Daly  and  Wilfrid  Daly.  On  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  he  married  Mary  Louise  Smith,  in  1890, 
who,  with  all  his  children  survives  him.  In  June,  1916,  he  was 
appointed  an  official  referee  by  the  Appellate  Division  of  the 
First  Department. 

He  was  a  collaborator  with  Augustin  Daly  in  his  playwriting. 
The  larger  part  of  the  literary  work  on  the  famous  Daly  plays 
was  done  by  Judge  Daly.  His  modesty  and  brotherly  affection 
kept  this  fact  concealed  until  after  his  brother  died.  He  had 
great  literary  gifts.  The  old-fashioned  law  office  was  an  ex- 
cellent academy  when  it  could  cultivate  its  office  boys  into  men 
of  learning  and  literary  charm.  Some  of  the  ablest  and  most 
cultured  men  in  the  history  of  the  Bar  of  New  York  grew  up 
with  no  other  advantages  than  those  their  law  offices  furnished 
them.  The  Chrysostom  Society  of  St.  Mary's  Church  was  also 
a  factor  in  the  cultivation  of  the  Daly  boys.  Some  of  their 
contemporaries  had  pleasant  reminiscences  of  their  beginnings 
in  the  writing  and  production  of  plays  and  other  literary  efforts 
there. 

Judge  Daly  from  his  early  years  was  active  in  political  work. 
In  1865  he  was  one  of  the  counsel  to  the  Municipal  Reform 
Association.    He  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  the  Bar 


NECROLOGY 


201 


that  before  the  days  of  the  Bar  Association,  met  to  place  checks 
on  the  political  bosses  of  that  day.  He  was  an  upright,  learned, 
revered  and  respected  judge  who  had  the  full  confidence  of  the 
Bar  and  of  all  the  suitors  in  his  Court.  He  held  the  scales  of 
justice  evenly  and  walked  his  course  without  fear  or  favor. 
Beginning  his  judicial  work  in  his  youth  he  came  after  twenty- 
eight  years  still  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers  to  the  day  of  his 
second  re-election  .  The  circumstances  of  his  defeat  created  bit- 
ter feelings  and  are  probably  too  recent  to  be  commented  on  here. 

After  he  left  the  bench  on  January  1,  1899  Judge  Daly  served 
as  chairman  of  the  Federal  Commission  to  Revise  the  Laws  of 
Porto  Rico.  He  was  one  of  the  New  York  Committee  of  Re- 
vision of  the  Education  Law  appointed  by  Governor  Roosevelt. 
He  was  counsel  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  until 
his  death;  President  of  the  Catholic  Club  for  five  years;  a  trus- 
tee and  valued  adviser  both  of  St.  Vincent's  Hospital,  New 
York;  Trinity  College  for  Women,  Washington  and  the  New 
York  County  Lawyers'  Association ;  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Law  Institute  and  many  other  similar  bodies.  He  was  given 
the  degree  of  LL.D.  by  Fordham  and  Villanova.  He  was  for  a 
generation  a  member  of  St.  Vincent  Ferrer's  parish,  New  York 
City,  and  a  devoted  friend  of  the  Dominican  Fathers  who  con- 
duct it. 

He  hated  sham  and  pretence  in  public  speaking.  His  graceful 
addresses  of  great  strength  and  dignity  made  on  many  occasions 
are  well  remembered.  He  was  sought  as  a  representative  speaker 
up  to  the  end  of  his  days.  His  vigor  was  remarkable.  He  kept 
the  elasticity  and  humor  of  his  youth  always.  He  was  a  man  of 
dignity  and  yet  gracious ;  a  delightful  companion  to  those  whom 
he  admitted  to  his  intimacy. 

He  was  a  founder  of  the  Players'  Club  and  was  its  vice- 
president  when  he  died.  He  was  fond  of  the  Catholic  Club  and 
was  at  his  best  in  his  relations  with  its  members  both  young  and 
old.  In  May,  1916,  he  was  made  a  Knight  Commander  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Gregory  by  Pope  Benedict  XV.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Xavier  Alumni  Sodality.  He  was  to  all  who 
knew  him  always  the  Catholic  gentleman  loyal  and  devoted  to 
his  Faith  and  exemplary  in  its  practice. 

Edward  J.  McGuire. 


UNITED  STATES  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Honorary  President, 
His  Eminence  John  Cardinal  Farley. 

President, 

Vice-President, 
Stephen  Farrelly. 

Treasurer, 
Richard  S.  Treacy,  A.M. 

Corresponding  Secretary, 
Joseph  H.  Fargis,  LL.D. 

Recording  Secretary, 
James  M.  Tully. 

Librarian, 
Rev.  Joseph  F.  Delany,  D.D. 

Trustees 

Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  Joseph  F.  Mooney,  V.G. 
Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  James  H.  McGean,  D.D. 

Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  John  F.  Kearney. 
Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  Henry  A.  Brann,  D.D. 
Thomas  S.  O'Brien,  LL.D.  Peter  Condon,  A.M. 

Thomas  F.  Meehan,  A.M. 

Councillors 

Rev.  Thomas  J.  Campbell,  S.J.    William  J,  Amend.  / 
Edward  J.  McGuire,  LL.D.         J.  Vincent  Crowne,  Ph.D. 
William  R.  King.  Arthur  F.  J.  Remy. 

202 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/josephfrancisdalOOmcgu 


